FEATS OF STRENGTH
I've Got A Lot of Problems With the Fitness Industry
As much as I enjoy learning about health and fitness, I hate the fitness industry. Like many niches, this industry is full of bro science, charlatans, misinformation, gimmicks, nonsense inventions, and other bullshit. Go on Instagram or TikTok and watch the advice some of the “influencers” are spouting for likes. There’s a phrase in the industry, “more spews for more views.” In other words, these people talk nonsense because they know it gets views.
This article serves as a Festivus-style “airing of grievances.” These are some of my problems with the current state of the fitness industry. As the late, great Jerry Stiller once famously said as Frank Costanza, “I got a lot of problems with you people, and now you’re gonna hear about it!”1
Genetics:
People don’t understand the MASSIVE role genetics plays in fitness and health. I can do biceps and triceps work six times a week and never have arms like Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Most humans will never achieve these results naturally. Hell, Chris Hemsworth is not even natural. Almost no one in Hollywood is. However, the fitness industry is complicit in failing genetics on two fronts. First, most athletes and fitness competitors are in their position because of genetics (and steroids). We have people with superior genetics who are in peak physical health. The fitness industry uses these people, comparison metrics, and vanity to sell us unneeded fitness programs and supplements. People need to learn to be realistic about their genetic potential. Nearly every athlete, fitness competitor, or professional bodybuilder you see is on something. Yes, even the ones claiming “natty” status. They’re doing this to prey on your insecurities and sell you unneeded shit. Do you know the main reason why most health and fitness influencers don’t talk about the role that genetics plays? Because they can’t sell you genetics. However, they can sell you meal plans, lifting plans, expensive coaching, nonsense fitness apps, supplements, and overpriced workout gear. I don’t even care if athletes, fitness models, and competitors are on gear. Just be honest about it!
Hydration/Sleep:
I discuss this in Chapter 7 of Herd Immunity: Mental Firmware, but hydration and sleep are two of the most critical and overlooked aspects of health. Not just for physical but mental health. Most of you need to drink more water and get more sleep. Once you go from a sedentary lifestyle to pushing real weight in the gym, you’ll realize this. Even as a young lad and a night owl, I needed a minimum of seven hours of sleep. I now try to get eight to nine, depending on my training days. I also lived on coffee and Mountain Dew in my 20s, but I don’t recommend this either. Just drink more water. You don’t need to be the “gym bro” carrying a jug everywhere. Invest in a good thermal-lined bottle and fill it a couple of times daily. Mine cost me $12 on Amazon. You’re worth the investment.
Strength vs. Size:
I refer you to the book Body by Science: “if one desires to have the body type of, say, a champion swimmer, the best course is to start by having the same parents as that champion swimmer – rather than his or her training methods.”2 Men should train for strength. Don’t worry about “bulking” or “hypertrophy” training. Once you dial in your eating, your body will change. You don’t need to resort to gear to bend your body to your will. But, as discussed above, you may not achieve the look of your dreams naturally. The focus should be on maxing out your genetic potential before taking any exogenous testosterone. You'll reach your genetic potential quicker when lifting heavy, eating, sleeping, and properly hydrating. Because of this fundamental lack of understanding (or dereliction of duty in proper instruction), we have teenagers believing they need to take steroids or a bunch of useless supplements to max out their genetic potential at 14. Let your hormone systems do the heavy lifting in your teens. There’s plenty of time to wreck your body with exogenous testosterone so that you can get a supplement sponsorship. Stop chasing aesthetics. Your goal is to be strong. When shit goes sideways in life, you need strength, not abs. The irony is that most of the guys who chase a particular aesthetic never reach it because they are trying to micromanage facets determined mainly by genetics. By pursuing strength, you will achieve a strong body that will be the envy of many people.
Bro-Science/Instagram/TikTok Fitness Plans:
Just stop! As stated in the genetics part, the fitness industry is full of people who worked hard and leveraged genetics (and/or steroids) to achieve a fantastic top-tier physique. Then they turn around, deliberately or inadvertently, and believe there’s a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach to health and fitness. Just because you are in good (or great) shape doesn’t mean you have the intelligence or knowledge to coach others. The fitness industry has become the blind leading the dumb. It weirds me out how many 16-25-year-old men AND women on social media think they should be selling generic fitness plans because they gained 10 lbs. of muscle or lost a few pounds. You can always tell who follows these stupid pages when you go to the gym. Every gym in America is full of people walking on the stair machine sideways and backward, doing leg lifts, thinking their ass is going to grow because of it. You look like idiots! But hey, a small price to pay for comedy. It beats the hell of the propaganda they have playing on the televisions at the gym.
Gym Clothing/Fitness Bunnies/Models:
Ladies, ENOUGH! The gym is for training, not a fitness parade. Stop holding up everyone else’s lifts because you need to pose at every station, pretend to be fit, and show off your Lululemon, Gymshark, and Alphalete sponsorships. Men aren’t immune to this either, with their stupid hoodies with no sleeves. No one’s impressed. Get a pair of shorts or sweats, leave the sleeves on your shirts, and move the weights. These are the same people who hold the Smith machines and squat racks hostage for an hour, never allowing anyone to work in, so they can crab-walk with exercise bands and do accessory work that plays no role in their muscular growth. These are the same people who “dry-scoop” pre-workout and BCAAs in the gym lobby or locker room, trying to “chase the pump!” Knock it off! If you’re younger than 25, you don’t even need pre-workout. Hell, the average gym-goer doesn’t work out hard enough to necessitate pre-workout. Drink a cup of coffee; you’ll be fine. If your adrenals are so taxed that you can’t “get a decent pump” without pre-workout and intra-workout nutrition, you have bigger problems than chasing sponsorships. Also, you don’t need to post every facet of your workout on social media. We get it–you work out. Ladies, the guys on your page don’t care about your lifts; they want to see your ass. If you’re a woman with a “Fitness page,” I’m going to go on record and say 90% of your “fans” are horny men, spilling to your content.
Calories/Macro Apps:
Stop taking your countertop scale out to eat with you. The average person doesn’t need to waste hours measuring your food or asking servers to bring out nutrition labels and recipe books (yes, I have seen this!). In the early days of your fitness journey, when you’re learning about calories and measuring your food, understand portion sizes. However, also understand that the restaurant’s labels and menus are a rough estimate! It’s not exact. Those labels and calorie estimates have been proven to be off by as much as 30-40%. Then people wonder why they’re not losing weight. One of the biggest issues with counting macronutrients is that your body often misses the essential micronutrients, as well as the forest for the trees. The labels may tell you what’s in the food, but they don’t tell you what’s been done to the food. Just like fitness, diet is individualistic. Unless your coach tailors your lifting and dietetic needs specific to you, be wary of anyone telling you to count calories and macros. Again, most of these people are professionally fit for a living. You don’t need to walk around with single-digit body fat. There are people in this world that can eat 300 grams of carbs in the form of white rice, walk around below ten-percent body fat, and have fantastic blood panels. Some people eat zero carbs, and their liver still has difficulty processing glucose: genetics, genetics, and more genetics. Quit being nerds and develop a healthy relationship with food!
Now we conclude Festivus with the feats of strength. Lift some heavy shit, brothers.
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Seinfeld. 1997. Season 9 Episode 10. “The Strike.” Directed by Andy Ackerman. Written by Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and Dan O’Keefe. Aired December 18, 1997, on NBC. https://www.netflix.com/title/70153373
McGuff M.D., Doug and John Little. 2009. Body by Science: A Research-Based Program for Strength Training, Body Building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week. New York: McGraw-Hill, xiv.